The Fall
by KamikazeKoiji
Summary: Axel is a professional assassin; one of the best around. Whilst out on a mission Axel finds he feels he knows an intended target from somewhere… but where? And what repercussions will there be for letting a certain blonde live? AkuRoku, AU.
1. Notorious

_**Author's Note:**_

_/Disclaimer/  
>I don't own any of them, credit to Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix &amp; Disney.<em>

_Hi readers~! _

_I've had the idea for this brewing around in my head since I was asked to come up with a fanfic plot line on the spot. Being in a Kingdom Hearts and Assassin's Creed kind of mood, this is how it came out xD _

_It's an AkuRoku, alternative universe fic. And it's going under the M tag because of use of blood, gore and language. There will be a bit of yaoi to look forward to, but no sex. It comes out crude when I write it so the most you're going to get is heated kissing I'm afraid. Anyway, enjoy and drop me a review if you like it. I don't mind if it's small, one worded ones or big long ones, I just like the feedback haha. _

_So without further adieu, enjoy~_

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><p><em><strong>The Fall<strong>_

_**Chapter 1 – Notorious**_

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><p>"And you're sure that you want me to do the job?" It was the early evening, twilight was just closing in, dimming the office that the secretive meeting was being held in. A tall, well built man with bright silver hair and menacing, glowing gold eyes was sat behind a desk surveying a shadowy figure in the corner of the room. It was the figure who had spoken; a lanky redhead sprawled out over one of the expensive armchairs like he was right at home.<p>

"Yes, I'm certain. I have a number of… acquaintances that need to be… shall we say, taught a lesson?"

A chuckle was emitted from the redhead as he slowly unhooked his legs from the arm of the chair and stood up. "You've never hired one of us before, have you?" He shoved his hands into his pockets, surveying the man across the room from him with an amused expression.

A pause.

"No. But that's beside the point. Can I rely on you to get the job done?" He spoke in a hasty manner, one which failed to completely hide his nervousness of the situation.

"Oh, of course you can." The redhead paced his way toward the desk, resting his palms on the cool wood and leaning over to get a better look at his prospective source of income for the next few weeks through the gloom of the office. "An assassin is true to his word." His lips tugged up into a smirk, drawing the silver haired gentleman's attention to the strange triangle-shaped markings on his cheeks.

"Good." The business man said, seeming considerably calmer. He shuffled a few of the papers on his desk and leant down to grab something. The redhead decided to sit himself upon one of the seats closer to the desk this time.

After a few moments, the silver haired man placed a single file on his desk, and watched the man he was about to hire on a contract look at it eagerly.

"This is a compilation of various individuals who cannot be allowed to continue disgracing the Organisation's name. I hope that it is enough information for you to be going off-"

With the wordless permission of the man in front of him, the assassin snatched up the folder, opening it carefully and sliding out the documents sealed within. There were three targets in total and the business man had kindly taken the liberty of providing photos of his intended kills; lists of recent mobile phone GPRS locations; applications to establishments they were members of and even their employee files and a vague timetable outlining their weekly business. He let out a sigh. "You're one of the thorough ones, aren't you?"

"I just intend on doing what's best for everyone, for the Organisation."

"Sure, that's what they all say." The redhead said cheerfully, slipping the documents back into their folder and placing it carefully on the desk once more. He smiled and winked at the man in the front of him. "You've come to the right man – I'll certainly get the job done." He stood up again, leaning against the desk watching him with interest while the man met his gaze unflinchingly. He was doing better than most, the assassin decided. A lot of his clientele usually faltered under his piercing stare, as if having seconds thoughts about what they'd brought him here to discuss. This man however showed no signs of running away, or even the anxiety that seemed to plague most of them. The assassin sat back in his chair, cocking his head to one side. _Yes_. He thought. _He's holding up better than most._ The only nervous sign he was displaying was the hushed manner in which he spoke. Other than that, it was as thought they were discussing a simple corporate dinner.

"You seem… curious about something." He commented, frowning at the assassin, who just smiled knowingly.

"Nah, it's nothing." He said simply, waving his hand to dismiss the point. "The matter of payment..?" He prompted, eager to get out of the stuffy office. The redhead much preferred being out in the open air to the confines of an office – no matter how well furnished it was.

"Of course." The man replied stiffly, reaching into the pockets of his fitted suit and pulling out a check book. The assassin had already clocked the suit. Armani or something, if he had to take a guess. "Is this to your liking?" He turned the check book around slowly so that he could see the figure he'd just scrawled onto the sum line. The assassin took a moment to look over the numbers.

"For everything?"

"No. Per person."

The assassin's eyes widened for a brief moment before the smirk spread its way across his face again. "Then you, sir, most certainly have a deal." He stood up and offered the other his hand.

The business man followed suit and stood and shook the proffered hand. "I am glad to hear I have your co-operation. Thank you, Axel." He said, a smile briefly pulling at the corners of his mouth before it slipped off again, leaving his features smooth, calm and unreadable.

"It's my pleasure, Xemnas."

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><p>Axel strolled confidently out of the revolving door at the front of the building, his hands shoved in his pockets and the newly acquired profiles resting neatly under his left arm. He was smiling to himself – his most recent client had promised him a lot of work at a very good price, and the first-class assassin was more than happy to take on the task of eliminating a few small fry from the world. When he reached his car, he willed his key fob to open the door to the passenger side for him, but in typical style, his rather well used Ford Fiesta refused to comply. He heaved a sigh, <em>Maybe some of that money I'm being offered can go toward a new car…<em> he thought to himself as he placed the folder containing the documents carefully on the seat.

He'd been given three marks so far; and had been told that he was to take as long as he needed to dispose of them (which Axel knew wouldn't take that long at all). His immediate plan was to get home and attempt to decipher what they would all be doing tomorrow.

Getting into the driver's side of the car and shoving the key in the ignition, he pulled out of the parking space he was occupying in the Organisation's car park slowly. That meeting with Xemnas, the recently appointed head of the Organisation, had dragged somewhat. Upon asking, Axel had learned that someone had recommended him to Xemnas, informing him that if they wanted the job done right, Axel was the right bloke to go to. He vaguely remembered a blond haired gambler from a previous visit to this place… Luxord, or something. Axel had managed to save him from a spot of bother from a loan shark – and, from the way he saw it anyway, saved countless more people from becoming involved with him. Axel could tell that the power that came with becoming the boss of a big company like the Organisation was probably going to Xemnas' head. He knew why he'd probably been summoned of course; the business man wanted to ensure his position at the top was secure, so fighting off the opposition was a rational move for him.

It didn't take much longer than half an hour for Axel to get back to his apartment. After climbing up the stairs, he eventually pushed through his apartment's door and dumped the documents on his coffee table. He'd take a look at them in a minute, for now however, getting something to drink seemed more important. He pulled open the fridge door and gazed inside, groaning to himself when he realised he was nearly out of beer. He muttered to himself as he grabbed a can anyway and also a loose bit of paper from atop the fridge, and made his way over to the island in the centre of his kitchen, making a note to put on his bulletin board to remind himself to get some more of Twilight Town's special blend beer.

He grabbed one of the small throwing knives that was embedded in the bulletin board and pulled it out, placing the note on the board and pushing the blade through it to keep it pinned up. He then turned his attention to what was on the rest of the board.

A small smirk spread across his face. He was getting closer to his goal.

A few years ago, some bastards had kidnapped his brother Reno and threatened to kill the rest of his family if he didn't comply with their demands. This was the reason that Axel had gotten himself involved in the assassin's trade; so that he could someday save his brother and kill all of the assholes who'd hurt him. On the bulletin board was a web of pictures, connected to each other by pieces of string. Some had big red crosses through the picture, and others had little yellow post-it notes stuck underneath of them, detailing their regular haunts and people most close to them.

Axel had been one of the most promising martial arts students back when he was in high school, and Reno, being a little bit stupid and a little bit of an idiot had gotten himself involved with a gang of thugs. Axel had told his brother, insisted in fact, that he needed to get out but Reno had refused to listen. It hadn't taken the gang long to realise who Reno's brother was, and the way that they saw it, Axel would be a valuable asset to their team. Axel didn't want any part in the plans however, and had to fight a few of them off to try and escape from them that first time that they had taken him to their hideout. They were persistent though, he had to hand that to them. But after Axel had managed to escape their clutches twelve times – and not always without injuries that took a few weeks to heal – they decided to change their tactics.

Reno upped and disappeared one night, and after a week of the family worrying that he had ran away or fallen victim to some grim fate, Axel had received a note.

A note explaining that if he didn't come to the gang's hideout then he would never see his older brother again.

So Axel went.

His plan was to rescue Reno and make sure that they never bothered him or his family again. As he ran to the old abandoned warehouse they used as their base, he didn't know how he was going to do any of those things. He had, before he left the house, picked up one of the knives from the knife block in the kitchen. Just in case.

He willingly wandered straight into their midst this time, demanding to speak with the man in charge. Someone by the name of Master Xehanort. He was surprised that his foe was an aged, balding man who walked with a stopped posture, but he kept his guard up, knowing that it was pointless to believe that this really was just a harmless old man who stood in front of him.

He made a list of demands, and Xehanort let him, a smile playing about his face which Axel really didn't like. When he was finished, Xehanort just clicked his fingers and a black haired man, who didn't look much older than Axel, walked out of the room and returned seconds later pushing a blindfolded, bound and gagged figure in front of him.

Reno.

It was then that Xehanort finally spoke, his gravelly voice reverberating around the warehouse and met by the enthusiastic sounds of his gang's members. Axel shuddered as he recalled them.

"Axel, so nice of you to join us. I trust that you know why you are here?" The old man had asked, staring intently at the redhead who was stood before him. "I think this time, we may gain your co-operation. Because this time, my friend, if you don't do as we say, you can say goodbye to your brother. And," He paused, a menacing look replacing the earlier smug one. "your family too." Axel had frozen. He was trapped, and those bastards knew it.

He'd had no choice in the end. He too 'ran' away from home, to keep everyone safe.

Over the difficult months that followed, the vicious gang utilised his skill as a martial artist and taught him how to kill. He became an assassin, and was soon the asset that they'd dreamed him to be. He never allowed himself to enjoy it, but he had to admit with all the pain and anger he had bottled up inside him since he was forced into this life, taking it out on someone who was apparently in the wrong felt good.

He was a part of the gang – which became quite notorious with his help – for a little over a year. Eventually an opportunity arose for him to escape, and begin acting on a plan which had been forming in his head ever since they demanded his compliance. He wanted revenge, and whilst out on a mission with Braig he'd seized the opportunity and assassinated him and escaped.

Once free however, finding out what he should do next became really hard. He didn't have a clue where to go, or what to do. And to make matters worse he was still wearing the clothes that the gang had made him wear, which were fast becoming synonymous with his assassinations. He needed somewhere to go, somewhere safe, and fast.

He decided on home in the end, turning up on the doorstep and nearly collapsing into both his mother and father's arms as they stood there in complete shock at the sight of one of their thought-dead sons stood in the doorway.

He told them everything, and insisted that they couldn't tell anyone. He'd learnt that Xehanort had friends in high up places and getting the police in to help wasn't going to benefit anyone, especially Reno. It was his father who'd broken the silence in the end, and had taken Axel to a friend of his who had some experience in darker matters.

Axel hadn't really thought much of Zexion when he had first met him, but since then the pair had become fast friends. Zexion had a very calculating mind and was very useful when it came to planning what Axel should do. It was he that had helped him set up the web of pictures on the bulletin board in front of him now, and it was he who had links in Twilight Town's seedy underworld which could be utilised for Axel to become known as _the_ contract assassin to hire. The redhead took one last look at the board – he'd eliminated about three quarters of the gang since joining up with Zexion nearly three years ago. He couldn't wait to finally get to Xehanort.

With the thought of his imminent revenge, Axel grabbed his beer can once more and made his way over to the sofa, flicking on the television and settling down to take a better look at the files. He pulled a notepad out from one of the shelves of the coffee table, and began making notes.

His first target was a pink haired man by the name of Marluxia, who, according to Xemnas, was a threat because of his way of thinking. He had shown signs in the past of wanting to over throw the previous governing body of the Organisation, and Xemnas wanted him gone before he had a chance to get to him. The second seemed to be Marluxia's wife, Larxene, who was to be assassinated on the grounds of following her husband's beliefs. Axel pulled out the third file, surveying the pointed face of someone known as Vexen. He seemed familiar to Axel somehow, so he read up on the files provided about him.

It didn't take him long to discover that Vexen had a twin; Even. Axel let out a little 'huh' noise as he made the connection. He'd assassinated Even a year ago due to his ties to the bastards that had used both him and his brother. Seemed… fitting almost that his doppelganger was to meet a similar fate.

He made a few more notes about each of them, and decided that Vexen would be the easiest to locate because the guy ran like clockwork – he had the exact same routine every single week, and at four o'clock on a Monday afternoon, Axel would almost certainly find him walking to the gym. He thought for a moment about what method he should use, and eventually decided on one of his poison blades. It would be a bit of black humour as Vexen, being a doctor much like his brother, would know what was attacking his system and would be powerless to stop it.

Marluxia and Larxene would be harder to find, but Xemnas' information showed that the pair were quite frequently together so it shouldn't be too hard to track them down, it would just involved a little more legwork and keeping an eye on the pair of them. Usually, it seemed, they spent a Monday evening dining together in a fancy restaurant of their choice which meant now Axel's only problem would be finding said restaurant.

With his plans set up, Axel decided to relax.

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><p><em><strong>Author's Note:<strong>_

_Thank you for reading! That's the first chapter done. There will be more action in future chapters so I do apologise if this one is a little lacking at the moment. And no sign of Roxas yet..? You'll be pleased to know he'll be appearing soon._

_If you like what you've read, please review, as it probably will make me write & update quicker~ :3_


	2. Assassin in Flight

_**Chapter 2 – Assassin in Flight**_

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><p>Axel slept in for most of Monday morning. He eventually surfaced out of his bed at half one, which gave him enough time to gather the things he would need on today's mission and also have a shower seeing as he'd fallen asleep on the couch last night and had been too sleepy to do anything about it then. He wandered into the bathroom and stripped off, chucking his boxers and oversized t-shirt into the corner of the room. He had been aiming for the dirty laundry basket but had missed by several feet.<p>

He felt much more alert after his shower and probably looked it too. He walked back into his bedroom with a towel draped around his waist to look for something to wear. His mobile phone rang as he was pulling a t-shirt over his head and he hastily grabbed it from his bedside table, checking the caller ID quickly before answering. _Zexion calling._ "Hello?"

"Axel. I've been trying to call you all morning. Where have you been?"

"Hello to you too." He said, rolling his eyes. Zexion never was one for wasting words. "Yeah," He continued. "about that. 'Slept in, I've only gotten up about half an hour ago."

"You're so lazy." Axel could practically hear his friend roll his eyes on the other end of the phone. He grinned. "Anyway, I heard you had a new contract with someone."

Axel raised his eyebrows. Zexion was always freakishly good at finding out information. "Yeah, that Xemnas guy. He's the recently-appointed boss for Organisation XIII… how did you find that out anyway?"

"I have my sources. Just be careful around him please. I've heard a few stories with non-too pleasant endings."

"Like what?"

"Well… never mind. I was actually calling to ask if you could come over later? I have something to show you."

"Like a surprise?" Axel asked, although Zexion couldn't see it, his face was lighting up in a grin.

"I guess you could say that," Came the reply. Axel laughed.

"I've got a few things to do today, mind if I come pay you a visit afterward?"

"Yeah. Whenever's best." There was a short pause which was filled with the sound of Axel doing up his jeans. "I've got things to do." Zexion said, sounding a little bored. "Axel, make sure to come back in one piece. This little present I've got for you isn't going to work if you're missing a leg or something."

"Gotcha." The assassin replied, shaking his head. "You don't have to worry about me you know." He said, walking through the door into the living room of his apartment.

"And yet I do for the sake of your mother and father." Axel laughed, he knew neither his mother or his father knew anything about the missions which their son now participated in; they thought he was working as a private detective trying to solve the mystery of his missing brother. It was partially the truth – he was working to find Reno at least, just in a very different manner to what his parents assumed.

"What d'ya want me to say? I'll try my best not to come back with any boo-boos?" He joked, laughing again. He heard the faintest sound of a chuckle from Zexion. "Fine, I'll be safe. Quit worrying about me now, okay man?"

"Just come over later." The steely haired man said before hanging up. Axel pocketed the phone and grinned to himself. He loved trying to annoy Zexion; the man was always so serious. He walked over to the little airing cupboard by the entrance to the kitchen, pulling the door open and peering inside. He'd decided last night that he was going to pick off Vexen first by means of one of his poison blades. It would be simple enough, all he needed to do was slice the guy's skin somewhere. As for Marluxia and Larxene, he was going to use either a gun or his hidden blades. He wasn't trained properly to use a gun, but he still had one just in case. He preferred a more hands-on approach, one which was known as his signature style.

He reached into the cupboard and pulled out a shoebox which contained most of his gear. The other thing stored in there was what Zexion had dubbed his assassin robes. They were something which the steel-haired man had created for him and were essentially a cool looking coat with a big hood which effectively hid his identity and places for all his gear to go. To be honest, Axel really liked it. It was mainly black but had some red trims on it and a red sash which acted as a belt and usually billowed out behind him like a tail. It looked a bit like a trench coat, but allowed for more movement and had proven to be really durable. Zexion had even been thoughtful enough to include a pull cord in the hood so that Axel could pull it more closely around his face if he ever needed to.

He pulled everything out of the cupboard and took it into his room, set the box down on his desk and draped the robes over his chair. It had only just gone two pm, and already he was eager to get going and get the job over and done with. He tried to distract himself by polishing his throwing knives, then eventually his hidden blade, and finally filling up his little poison daggers. He also checked the gun was clean in case he decided he felt like shooting someone. He was that immersed in his task that he didn't look at the clock again until it was ten past three.

He pulled on the robe over his jeans and t-shirt and tied the red sash around his waist. He then began placing his weapons in their corresponding pouches. He slid the protective bracer which contained his hidden blade – another one of Zexion's creations – over his right wrist, extending it and retracting it once with a flick of his hand. He smiled to himself before tying his bright spikey hair up in a ponytail at the nape of his neck and pulling up his hood. It was raining so he decided that it would be safe to exit via the front door instead of the window because next to no one would be around to see him.

Once outside he felt an immediate sense of freedom like he normally did when he went out to do something purposeful. He hated that the profession he had been forced into had become a part of him; he didn't enjoy killing at all but there were elements about the job that did make him feel… alive. He jogged along the side-roads and alley ways which would lead him to the gym where Vexen would be heading toward now as well. Only when he was in the vicinity of the gym did he decide to take a more bird's eye view and soon he was scaling the walls of a building that allowed him to watch the entrance to the gym from the opposite side of the road. He crouched in waiting, just observing the world go by one or two stories below in the drizzle of the rain. Eventually a male with long, pale blond hair marched his way toward the building the assassin's eyes were trained on. He smiled as he pulled out the paper in which he had made notes on the previous night.

He had worked out that the doctor would be exiting the gym about 4.45pm, and taking a walk down Twilight Street toward his apartment. Axel's brain calculated where would be the best spot to dispose of him and concluded that the usually deserted alleyway linking Twilight Street and Keyblade Walk – a road just a few minutes run away – would be perfect. There was nothing to do now other than to lie in wait like a hungry predator, stalking its prey.

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><p>Vexen took longer than the assassin had anticipated, meaning that Axel had spent nearly an hour outside in the rain just sitting in wait upon the rooftop. "C'mon, c'mon." He'd found himself muttering from time to time, eager to get the job over and done with. When his target came into view again, Axel remained crouching, watching to make sure his target was walking in the direction he anticipated he would before running off across the rooftops to the street where he would make his kill. He stood on the top corner of a building on Keyblade Walk, and watched as the mark rounded the corner and began walking down the alleyway. Now was his moment to strike.<p>

He dropped and lowered himself down the side of the building, as though he was abseiling without the need of ropes. He landed softly on the floor and hid behind a skip which had been pushed against the wall of the alley. He peeked around it at Vexen, who seemed to have noticed a sound coming from behind him. After a moment however, he turned back around and continued walking. Axel grabbed one of the small poison filled blades from his pocket and gripped it tightly in his left hand, jogging up the alley. He made sure his hood was obscuring his face in the way he wanted.

As he neared his target, he pretended to bump into him, secretly pushing the blade into Vexen's arm. It sliced through his coat and grazed the skin, leaving only a thin trail of blood along his bicep, Axel continued to push the man out of his way.

"Oh man, I'm sorry." He exclaimed, stopping and turning to face Vexen. "I didn't mean to run into you like that. I was in a world of my own."

Vexen was rubbing at his arm, it seemed as though he hadn't figured out what Axel had done yet. _Good._

"You will be." Vexen said with a glare. Axel was struck for a moment by how much he resembled his late brother. He swayed a bit on the spot and Axel had to suppress a grimace from appearing on what was visible of his face. "Watch where you're going next time, okay?"

"I will next time… and I'm really sorry." He said sadly before turning and jogging away again, looking for a way up onto the rooftops so that he could wait and see that his job with Vexen would actually be completed. He found a ladder leading to a fire escape on Keyblade Walk and leapt up the wall, rushing to the edge and locating his target again.

Vexen had stopped in the entry of the alleyway, and seemed to be trying to suppress a twitching in his arms. He was frowning, and the twitches were slowly getting worse, making his arms jerk in odd angles. Some people who had been walking in the street stopped to watch him. Axel let out the vaguest of chuckles under his breath. Vexen couldn't have chosen a better spot to make his death public; it must have looked as though he was about to start drunkenly dancing to the onlookers, especially the way he dropped his briefcase and started jerking his limbs out every way which. Axel pushed himself to the wall so not to draw attention to himself and looked sadly down at Vexen.

The jerky movements were getting more and more violent now as the poison took hold of his nervous system. It wasn't long before he had collapsed and started convulsing on the ground, froth foaming from his mouth and his limbs twitching. His cold green eyes stared vacantly up at the sky as the life drained from his body.

Axel rose to his feet and started walking in the opposite direction, his head bowed as a sign of respect. "I didn't take pleasure in doing that," He whispered, as if making a final blessing on the now-dead man on the street below. "May your soul be reunited with your brother once more."

There were screams and wails rising up from the street now and the sound of rushing footsteps as people came to see what was the matter with the small gathering of people on the street. Axel made his way across the rooftops in the general direction that the documents had told him he would find Marluxia and Larxene's apartment as quickly and as stealthily as he could. Darkness was closing in now, and it was acting like a protective shield, enveloping and hiding him from the world. It made him feel safe.

He checked that he had definitely had the right address before choosing a vantage point across the road from the building and he then began the same waiting game he'd played with Vexen earlier on. From a perch atop one of the apartment buildings opposite, he watched the main entrance through the gloom of the city, waiting once more for his prey to come to him. The couple both emerged some time later from the building, the woman linking her arm though the mans. They were dressed up, presumably for a dinner as Xemnas' timetable had suggested, and were walking in the general direction of the little Italian place Axel had spotted further down the street. Axel weighed up for a moment what method he'd rather use. The rain was coming down more heavily now and there was no one else about apart from the two people he was destined to kill, so he could be discreet about using his hidden blade… On the other hand, trying to use a gun and killing them from a distance would be less messy. However, aiming straight when the rain was getting on his face would be more difficult, and would probably annoy him so he opted for his preferred method.

Lukily for Axel, the apartment building was situated in a little cul-de-sac type street, and he was able to leap from roof top to roof top without having to run across the road once. Eventually he managed to catch them up, making as little noise as he could and soon could catch snippets of the couples hushed conversation, they appeared to be chatting animatedly about someone from the office. Straining his ears over the sound of the water pouring down around him, Axel caught out the words 'Xemnas', 'plot' and 'assassin'. Either these guys were planning on getting to Xemnas first, or they'd heard a rumour about him…

Axel waited for a moment longer before lazily sending a throwing knife down to the pavement. The couple stopped and looked at it confusedly, wondering where it could have possibly come from.

Axel seized his chance. He leapt from the building, using the two of them to break his fall. They crumpled to the ground beneath his weight. With a flick of his right wrist, the hidden blade was released and embedded into Marluxia's back, piercing – the assassin knew from knowledge he'd gained about the human body – a few of his vital organs. He wouldn't feel it for long. The pink-haired man let out a shallow cry. The girl didn't have much time to take in the sight of her husband lying next to her on the ground before Axel had one of his daggers in hand and had manoeuvred it to the front of her throat, pressing in on the carotid artery in her neck. The blade slid against her skin smoothly, easily going in deep enough to make a fatal incision. It wasn't long before Axel's hand was soaked in her crimson-red blood. He sighed to himself and gently removed the blade from Marluxia's back before crouching over the pair of them, whispering softly.

"I am sorry to have to do that to you. Know that I take no joy from it. I hope you may move on peacefully."

And with that he was off again, racing up the walls of the nearby building and across the rooftops, his robes streaming out behind him. Once he was far enough away from the spot he had murdered the two young people, he stopped, panting and dropped himself down from the roof onto someone's balcony. It was still raining heavily and he didn't notice the light flowing out from the sliding French door behind him. He went over to the edge and leaned his elbows on it, resting his head in his hands.

He was fighting back the guilty feeling that usually arose after he had committed a kill. He knew as an assassin he shouldn't have those emotions but there was still a part of him – a very human part of him – that couldn't switch off his conscience when he was going about his work.

"Um, excuse me?" A voice called out behind him. He turned on his heel quickly, looking in shock at the small incredibly spikey haired blond figure stood in the doorway behind him. _Oh shit._ "What on earth are you doing up on my balcony?"

"Nothing, never mind." Axel said hastily, jumping up onto the ledge a moment before he had been using as an arm rest and leaping back onto the rooftops. He began to run quickly in the direction of Zexion's house.

He wasn't sure, but he thought he could hear that voice gasp and call out after him, but he wasn't about to stop. Not when he was rather bloody and in possession of several weapons which could have him thrown in jail faster than you could say 'assassin'.

* * *

><p>"Three kills in one night, Axel? You're going all out."<p>

"I know. I just wanted to get the job done. Xemnas made out there was plenty more where that came from, so I figured I'd aim to impress." He scrubbed at his hands with the towel Zexion had provided with him, trying to remove any traces of blood from them before putting them back under the hot water. Zexion was leaning casually against the bath, watching his friend intently.

"You know, when your father used to speak of you to me he made you out to be such an angel." Axel looked up and grinned at Zexion.

"And I'm guessing I didn't meet your expectations?"

"You might have done, had I met you a few years earlier." He said, chuckling. "But seeing as the first time I met you was after you had been taught to kill, one could hardly expect the little angel impression to be a lasting one."

"Heh heh." Axel said, drying his hands one last time and picking up his hidden blade and the dagger he'd used earlier. He then set about washing and polishing them to a shine again.

"So, how well did these assassinations go?" Zexion asked after a moment or two spent watching the slightly younger man fussing over his equipment. Despite being firm friends with Axel's father, Zexion was actually only five years older than Axel, meaning that the two of them found it pretty easy to get along with each other.

"Okay." Axel said, shrugging. "Vexen's went off without a hitch, as did Marluxia and Larxene. I think I chose the right places at exactly the right times. I got Vexen with a poison blade and the other two with the hidden blade and knife, respectively."

Zexion nodded, pushing himself away from the bath and wandering over to the door. "When you're done with that, come join me downstairs, won't you?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder at Axel as he left the room.

"Okay," Axel called after his retreating back, turning back to the hidden blade and polishing furiously. It had become a ritual of his, the polishing. As though he could shine away his sins. When he was happy with the state of his blades, he carefully pulled the protective bracer over his hand again and fastened it up before placing the other items back in their right pockets of his robes. He didn't want to take the robe off, he was soaked through but he'd be home soon so he didn't see the point of struggling out of it now only to have to struggle back into it again when it was time to leave. He made his way down to Zexion's living room.

The slate haired man was slouched on the couch, absentmindedly watching something on TV. Axel noticed that it was the news, and their main story of the night? Breaking news regarding promising business people who appeared to have died under suspicious circumstances.

"Oh, turn that over will you?" Axel asked, his voice groaning. "I don't want to see them again." Zexion complied with a shrug, shutting off the television with a click of the remote which lay on the sofa next to him.

"I know you're eager to get out of here so you can settle down for the night-"

"Have I been making that obvious?" Axel asked, a sheepish look spreading over his face.

"Sort of." Zexion replied, standing up and walking over to the door which led to his office/workshop. "Come with me." He said, signalling for the redhead to follow. Axel trailed after him obediently.

"So, what wondrous treats have you got for me today?" He asked, smiling brightly when he saw that there was a big cardboard box on Zexion's desk.

"Oh, that's mine." He said, grabbing the box and moving it off the desk so that he could sit down at it and offer Axel the seat opposite him. "These," He said, leaning down the side of his desk and pulling up a pair of black boots. "Are for you."

"Oooh, what do they do exactly?" Axel asked, looking at them interestedly.

The boots appeared to be a simple design, about thigh high but there were several little pockets lining the insides of them. Axel frowned, what were they for?

"These," Zexion began. "are something I've just made."

"Well never," Axel interjected with a pout, his curiosity growing.

"Ha ha." Zexion laughed sarcastically, aiming a long suffering look at his friend. "Try them on, won't you?" Axel rolled his eyes but did so. Zexion continued; "The main thing about them is that they have little grips on the bottom of them, which should, in theory, improve your speed and also definitely make you faster at climbing up walls. But I also took the liberty of placing some pockets inside of them, meaning you can store some of your equipment there easily." He smiled, watching as Axel paced around the office in the boots, testing them out.

"They're comfy at any rate." He said with a grin.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. You know you were complaining that taking down groups of enemies was a little hard when you only had your hidden blade as means of defence?" He quizzed, quirking an eyebrow at the redhead.

"Yeah..?" Axel hummed.

"Well, you see that middle pocket on your right boot? There's just enough room in there to fit one of your longer blades. Which means, dancing with those guys would get easier."

"That's cool," Axel said, stooping down to examine the pockets more closely. Once donned on his feet, the built-in pockets weren't half as noticeable as they were whilst situated on the table. The assassin's robe shrouded the tops of them from view, meaning that unless anyone was paying specific attention to his legs, no one would notice if he was concealing a blade or a hand gun there. "Thanks, Zexion."

"Don't mention it." The slate haired man smiled, his one visible eye crinkling. "I've got something else in the works too, but I'm afraid you won't be seeing hide nor hair of it until an unnamed later date."

Axel raised his eyebrows, flashing a challenging smile in Zexion's direction. "Aw, sure I can't tempt you into showing me earlier?"

"No, Axel. Just no."

"Fair 'nuff." He shrugged. "It was worth a try."

"No Axel, it really wasn't." Zexion rolled his eyes, getting up from his desk and wandering over to the window. "Huh. He's early." He commented. Axel frowned and padded over.

"Who is?" He followed the cerulean gaze of his friend down onto the quiet road below and spotted a familiar blond with a mullet heading toward the entrance of Zexion's house.

"Demyx." Zexion said softly. Axel couldn't help but grin when he saw the look on his face.

"Want me to get going so you two can have some alone time?" He asked jokingly, pushing at his friend's shoulder playfully. Zexion's usually pale face flushed red and he turned to face Axel with a glare.

"It is not like that and you know it assassin."

"'Course." Axel said with a wink before picking up his soggy trainers and walking toward the door. "I need to get changed before I catch pneumonia or something anyway." He pulled up his hood as he walked down the stairs, opening the door just as Demyx's hand was about to land on the doorbell.

"Oh, hi Axel!" He exclaimed, smiling brightly at the assassin.

"Hey Demyx, how ya doing?"

"Well, pretty good, I was just coming over to Zex's to-"

"Sorry Dem, I've really gotta go. Have fun with Zexy though, won't you?" He said with a mischievous grin and a wink. He brushed past Demyx and patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks again Zexion! I'll see you tomorrow most probably." He said as the stepped out from under the shelter of the porch and once again into the darkness and rain, jogging down the steep path that led from the road to Zexion's house.

Zexion ushered Demyx inside, slamming the door behind him.

"What's up with him?" Demyx asked, his usual carefree grin upon his face.

"Don't ask. It's better that way." Zexion said, rolling his eyes again before leading Demyx into the living room.

* * *

><p>"Roxas?"<p>

A frail sounding voice called out from the safety of their apartment. He registered the sound of it as he stood alone, at the edge of the balcony looking out into the heavy rain.

"Roxas, you're soaked! What are you doing out here?"

"I thought I… saw someone…" He said vaguely, not turning around to face his sister, Naminé. "There was someone standing on our balcony."

"Roxas, it's hammering down out there, come inside, please." Namine begged. She'd managed to wheel her wheelchair over to the door, but wasn't able to get through the narrow doorway. Roxas heaved a sigh and turned to go back into the apartment. He smiled gently so not to worry his sister, she had more than enough on her plate at the minute as it was.

"I just thought I saw something, that's all."

"You were out there for a good ten minutes, surely you noticed that there was nothing there?"

"Uhh..." Roxas started and trailed off. He didn't bother trying to finish the sentence. He didn't just think he'd saw someone on the balcony, he _knew_ he had seen someone on there, leaning over the edge with his head in his hands. He had stood and watched after hearing a strange noise outside his bedroom. The mystery person was wearing some kind of trench coat with the hood pulled straight up, obscuring their face from his view completely when he finally worked up the guts to ask what the stranger was doing on the balcony. He vaguely recognised the outfit from somewhere, he was sure of it… He couldn't figure out where however.

"I'm glad no one was out there though." Naminé said, wrapping her arms across her chest. Roxas looked at his sister and went over to hug her.

"No one was out there Nami." He said gently, pulling away and moving to the back of her chair to wheel her to their front room. He knew the words would comfort her slightly, seeing as she'd been really jumpy after that… incident.

"Roxas… I'm sorry for being a bit of a burden these past few weeks." She said, looking dejectedly at the floor. Roxas chuckled behind her. "What?" She asked, confused.

"Naminé, it's fine, honestly. I'd rather you stay with my than live on your own when you've been feeling like this.

"Thank you…" She all but whispered. Roxas only vaguely caught her words. He was becoming distracted again.

His curiosity was perked now. He knew the chances of running into the strange guy who had ended up on his balcony again were very slim to none, but still he found himself wanting to know more.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note:<strong>_

_/Disclaimer/_

_All characters to Square Enix, any resemblance of the assassin gear has been inspired by Assassin's Creed, thus the credit goes to Ubisoft :3_

_Okies, chapter updates are not always going to be this fast. I just couldn't wait after I'd finished it and proof read it so I thought I'd upload it and here it is :') This counts as homework, right? Right. xD_

_Chapter two for you guys~! I hope you liked it, I promise the storyline will pick up eventually, it's just at the moment I'm having to write a lot of Axel on his own and I'm not sure if it's boring or not :s And was that a little peek of Roxas coming through there? I think it was~ *sing song voice*_

_I'm aware that Axel's assassin costume and weaponry bears a striking resemblance to that of something form the Assassin's Creed games. You're not wrong in thinking it 'cause that's where the idea came from haha, I think it's a really cool costume. I tried to combine something elements of the Organisation XIII coat into it as well as something AC-ish. Oh, and I didn't want Axel to be a full gun wielding assassin 'cause he doesn't use guns in the games, I imagine a blade is one of the closest things to a chakram really. _

_Anyway, thanks to everyone who's read this so far, and faved or subbed and my reviewer 'cause it really means a lot to me :') If you would be so kind as to give a review now it would really make me happy. I know there isn't really much to go on though but I'm happy with one word reviews as well as anything else like suggestions or corrections you want to throw at me XD I don't have a beta so I'm proof reading myself, and sometimes don't catch all the minor errors haha._

_I don't like doing long author's notes 'cause I feel they distract from the story, so this is where I bid you farewell haha. Thanks for reading~!_


	3. Encounter

_**Chapter 3 – Encounter**_

* * *

><p>Roxas found himself growing progressively more and more annoyed at his train of thought. After witnessing the tall, dark figure outside his room in the rain on Monday night, try as he may, he hadn't been able to get him out of his mind. He found he was intrigued; not only by the anonymity of the man but also by what possible reasons he had for being on his balcony in the first place. And most importantly of all, why had he used the roof as means of escape? What kind of a person even did that? All of these things about him – however cryptic – narrowed down the list of possible subjects. Not that Roxas was actually acquainted with many black-robe-wearing hooded parkour specialists, you understand.<p>

His curiosity was perked – and he felt he _needed_ to find out the identity of his mysterious visitor. After all, he'd always enjoyed a puzzle.

In the meantime however, he would have to put up with the puzzles put to him by the newspaper to which he was employed, which usually consisted of minor events or issues out and about around Twilight Town and asking the readers to write in with their opinions on said events.

When he rolled into work on Wednesday morning, he was greeted by a worried looking Kairi. She scampered up toward him, grabbing his arm and dragging him past his desk where he had been about to settle, and toward the main offices.

"Hello to you too." Roxas muttered, earning himself a glare from the redhead.

"Terra wants to see you." Kairi explained. Roxas raised his eyebrows at her pointedly, implying he didn't know what she was talking about. "I don't know. Probably about that report you've been writing." She added, waiting for the piece to click into place.

Roxas' eyes widened for a moment. "That one about the growing threat of mugging in Twilight Town?" Kairi nodded. "But- but that wasn't due in until Friday!" He groaned, trailing behind his colleague. Terra was the editor-in-chief of the Twilight Gazette, and had pulled a few strings to get Roxas his job. Because of this, Roxas felt that he couldn't let the older man down – especially not when he'd been so kind to him. "I don't think I even have it on my memory stick…"

"He told me to tell you to report to him about it as soon as you got in today. Past that, I don't know why he's summoned you." They reached the editor's office and Kairi turned to face him, letting his wrist drop from her grip. "Go on, get." She urged, nodding toward the door. Roxas glowered for a second before marching sullenly to the door.

"You may have just ruined my morning." He said with a grin before knocking on the door.

"Don't shoot the messenger." Kairi said, holding up her hands and walking off. Roxas shook his head, worry setting in his gut. _What if he wants to fire me?_

"Come in." Came the muffled summons. Roxas pushed open the door.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" He asked, wandering in through the door and closing it behind him.

"Ah, Roxas. Yeah, I just wanted to ask you a few things. Please, take a seat." Terra was stood in the corner of his office, shuffling through some papers in his filing cabinet. Roxas hastily took a seat and waited for his boss to join him. Eventually, Terra found the paper he was looking for and sat down at his desk. He smiled in the stoic manner which he seemed to posses before speaking again. "Don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong."

_Yet._ Roxas added mentally.

"I called you in here just to check how you were getting on. You've been here for what, about two years now?"

"One year, eleven months this Friday, sir." Roxas responded, smiling nervously.

Terra nodded. "You've come quite a long way since then." He looked at the paper which he had brought over to his desk. "Are you enjoying the work given to you?" He asked.

"I love it," Roxas began, glancing round the office. "I enjoy writing up the reports and stuff."

Again, Terra nodded. "I'm glad to hear that. What is it you're working on now? An investigation into the recent rise in muggings, was it?" Roxas nodded this time. "How is that coming along?"

"I haven't finished it yet," The blond stammered, hoping the next words out of Terra's mouth weren't going to be 'why not?'.

"That's okay, you're still under the deadline right?" He smiled briefly again, and Roxas felt himself relax. "Let me ask you something, Roxas. Where do you see yourself five years from now?"

Roxas paused for a moment. He'd told Terra the first time that they'd met, when he was fresh from his journalism short course at the local college that he wanted to be a columnist. Had his boss forgotten that or..? "Um, well I like the idea of being a columnist." Roxas said, biting his lip. "I think I'm better at putting my own voice on paper than I am writing formally."

"I remember now. Well, I have some good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

"The bad..?" Roxas hesitated, waiting for some kind of negative comment. But it never came.

"You've wasted your time writing up that mugging article."

"What? But-"

"Let me finish."

Roxas fell silent.

"The reason for that is because I've talked it over with the rest of the editorial team and we've decided to let you try a column." Terra said, leaning back against his chair.

"A column?" Roxas asked, his jaw hanging open slightly. This was some kind of joke, surely. It had to be.

"Yes Roxas. Your _own_ column." He paused here, presumably to give Roxas a moment for the news to sink in. "Well?" Terra asked after a while.

"I can't believe it!" Roxas said, chuckling to himself. "Thank you so much, Terra!"

"You're welcome."

The rest of the time that Roxas was in the office was spent with the two of them talking about what kind of things that Roxas' new column could contain, and when his first deadline for it was. He was to have a special Tuesday feature, where he could discuss anything which was happening in his life and anything the newspaper sent him to investigate.

By the time he left the office, Roxas was beaming from ear to ear. He caught Kairi's eye on the way to his desk, dumping his stuff down and turning on his computer, ready to start working. He and Terra had decided that his first piece should be an introductory one, explaining who he was and what kind of things he was going to be writing about. Standard stuff really.

"Judging by that look on your face, I'm guessing he didn't call you in there to fire you." Kairi noted, leaning against his desk.

"Nope. I just got promoted." He said, flashing his grin in her direction.

"Really? Well, congratulations Roxas!" She said, clapping. This attracted the attention of the handful of other people in the office.

"What's happened, Kairi?" Someone asked.

"Roxas got promoted!"

Almost as soon as the words had left her lips, the crowd descended on Roxas to deliver their congratulations.

* * *

><p>At about seven am, Axel had received a phone call. He wasn't much of a morning person, and certainly didn't appreciate the caller interrupting his much deserved rest. Once he had answered in the most reasonable tone he could manage, he'd been greeted by the sound of Xemnas' voice, complimenting him on just how quickly he worked. He'd requested to meet with Axel to discuss his next mission, and Axel had began making his way over to the Organisation buildings prior to lunch time.<p>

He found Xemnas' PA outside of the office, and she buzzed him through. He waited there for about five minutes before the silver-haired businessman made his appearance. Axel smiled coolly, his green eyes following the other man's progress across his office.

"So glad you could make it." He said, indicating that Axel should take up a seat nearer to the desk than the one he was already occupying in the back corner of the room. It was a force of habit; being out of the immediate line of vision when surprising an enemy was useful because it allowed you to take the advantage of a pre-emptive strike. However, it worked both ways, especially if you were backed into a corner by an enemy. _Those_ situations usually got a bit sticky. Axel obliged and settled down into his new chair, debating for a moment swinging his legs up casually on the desk. He thought better of it, mainly because he didn't want to dismiss his only source of income at the moment by disregarding his manners.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" He inquired, raising his short eyebrows at the businessman in front of him. Xemnas cleared his throat before rummaging in one of his desk drawers and pulling out another file. "Ah, straight to business I see." Axel commented, leaning forward in his chair to see what was inside this file which Xemnas had presented him with.

"I have some new targets for you." Xemnas said, opening the file and pulling out two leafs of paper. Axel pulled them over to him and read the profiles to himself. He nodded as his eyes took in the information. "I was very… pleased with how you executed your last mission. I hope I can expect such prompt results this time, too?"

Axel looked up and smiled at Xemnas, leaning back in his chair with an air of confidence. "Of course you may. I prefer getting the job over and done with."

Xemnas observed him for a moment, almost as though he was searching for something in the assassin's face. "One might say you enjoy this profession, Axel."

Axel's face fell, his eyebrows tugging together in a frown. "I don't take much pride in what I do; it's only out of circumstance that I am even in this profession."

"An assassin who doesn't want to be an assassin, then?"

"Something like that…"

Xemnas laughed, a cruel, humourless sounding thing. "Fancy that." He said, grabbing the papers on the desk and carefully placing them back in the folder before handing it to Axel again. "Here," He said. "The same pay, per peson?"

"Sounds good to me." Axel said, accepting the folder. At least it was only two this time. If he was lucky, he'd be able to pick them off before dinner time. There was just one thing. There was something about this Xemnas that gave him the creeps. And he'd met a lot of scumbags in his time. But Xemnas, somehow, possessed a quality that topped all of the others. Except maybe Xehanort. He started to get to his feet when the silver haired businessman stopped him just before he reached the door.

"Oh, and Axel?" He called out.

"Hmmm?" Axel turned back to face his contractor.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you." There was a cold smile playing about the other's face, and Axel tried to return the gesture briefly.

"Not a problem, sir." He said, walking out of the office.

* * *

><p>Axel didn't go home immediately, instead he wandered into town to look for a quiet place to get lunch. He had the folder tucked under his arm. Thankfully there was no condemning information written on the exterior, so as long as he didn't drop it or let anyone else see what was inside of it, he assumed it was a safe enough object to have in his possession. For all the staff at whatever place he chose to dine at knew, he was organising a simple lunch meeting. Or something like that.<p>

It took him a while to get to the town centre. It was here that you could find almost any kind of food that you could want; from fast food to proper fresh-cooked meals which you usually had to wait at least half an hour to get from the time that you ordered. It was the latter of the two options which Axel decided to go for, just because he didn't want brave the queue which was nearly spilling out of the doors of McDonald's.

In the end he settled on a pub he knew quite well called The Lanes Between. It was a quirky little place, on the corner of the row of shops before you headed up the high street. It was a reasonably old building and decorated in the style of a Tudor house; causing it to stand out next to its more modern neighbours. Inside was always warm and welcoming, with low wooden rafters marking the ceiling into sections and little candles lighting the tables further into the restaurant. He headed to a table by the window and sat down, looking at what dishes there were on their lunch time menu. It wasn't long before he was pulled from his thoughts by the waitress, wanting to know if he was ready to order.

"Sure," He replied, putting the menu down on the table and pointing to the dish he wanted on the menu with his index finger. "I'll have the Hunter's Chicken, please." The girl took note.

"And what would you like with that, cutie?" She said, her voice dropping low enough for only him to hear. He couldn't help letting a smirk slide across his face.

"I'll have chips, please." He said, winking at the girl. She smiled, angling her head away from Axel to try and hide the blush which was flowing over her cheeks. She scribbled down his request onto her notepad. "And would I be able to have a pint of the house beer, too please?" He asked, glancing up at the bar. She nodded and added it to his tab. She wrote a number on it and circled it before tearing the top sheet off and handing him it.

"Coming right up," She said, returning the wink before turning and shimmying back to the kitchen. Axel took a moment to appreciate how her hips swayed when she walked before turning his attention back to the window. People scurried by, many of them dressed in office-wear, and probably out looking for some place to go to lunch. Axel wondered what that was like – going out to lunch or dinner with work mates. There hadn't been anything of the sort when he had been working with Xehanort, and his solo career now didn't really allow for any colleague bonding, unless you counted the occasional pizza and movie with Zexion and Demyx. The people walked past the window each in their own separate world, caring or worrying about their own problems. Axel envied them for being so normal.

"Here you go, cutie." Came a voice accompanied with the dull clank of glass on wood as she placed his drink on the table. The waitress was grinning flirtatiously at him again.

"Thanks, beautiful." Axel returned, grinning at her as he casually brushed her hand with his as he picked up the glass to take a sip of his drink. She giggled before walking off to wait on someone else, glancing back at him. Axel continued to smile. He wasn't interested in her all that much really. He just enjoyed flirting.

He went back to watching the world outside the window again and found his bright green eyes drawn to a small blond guy walking alongside a group of people who seemed to be chattering and joking happily. They stopped a few feet from the pub that Axel was sat in, and pointed to it. The blond shrugged his shoulders as if he wasn't bothered and the others dragged him inside.

"Aw, c'mon Roxas, we have to celebrate!"

"Yeah, dude! You got promoted, we have to!"

"But I… I really don't want you guys to make this much of a fuss over me. I don't see the point-" The blond, apparently called Roxas said, holding his hands up and looking rather embarrassed. Axel could see the point. This guy's promotion was an excuse for a few drinks at lunch, and a few drinks at lunch when your buddy had been promoted was a pretty good excuse for rolling into the office slightly tipsy. Axel's expression changed from a thoughtful smile to a frown as he looked at Roxas. He was certain he'd seen him somewhere before. _But where?_

The group dragged Roxas up to the bar where they ordered drinks and requested a table for nine. They got the one nearest Axel. The redhead wasn't complaining however, he was far too intrigued by the blond man to want them to sit elsewhere.

"Guys, I'd like to propose a toast to Roxas," Said a redheaded girl who was seated at the head of the table.

"Yeah!" Came the chorus of voices.

"To Roxas, may we all be entertained by your column for many months to come." Someone else said.

"And to hoping some of us get promotions too!" Another voice added. A rippled of laughter went out around the table, and a quick glance at the blond told Axel that he was finding that last proposal just as funny as the others.

"To Roxas," Chorused the others.

"To me," Roxas said timidly, raising his glass and taking a gulp from it. _He's being modest_. Axel noted, turning away for a split second to grin at the waitress who was walking toward his table. She giggled and ducked her head, wandering back into the kitchen.

As rude as it might have seemed, Axel spent most of the wait for his meal eavesdropping on the conversations being discussed on the table nearest to him – mainly listening out for a certain blond's voice so that he might be able to pick up some clue as to where he'd seen him before – and guiltlessly watching the guy. Thankfully, Roxas didn't seem to notice his gaze, and Axel was happy to leave him oblivious.

When his meal eventually came, he'd overheard how Roxas had been promoted from writing articles from one of Twilight Town's newspapers – he assumed the Twilight Gazette, seeing as they mentioned how he'd be able to give his opinion now rather than ask for the public's (that paper was all about community spirit) – to being the writer of his own column in it. They were just discussing what kind of things he should put in it when the waitress carefully placed his meal in front of him.

"Bon appetite." She said in a tone that tinkled like a bell.

"Ah, merci mademoiselle." He joined in, accepting the knife and fork offered to him. She smiled and once again left him. He ate in silence – he didn't have anyone to talk to after all – and occasionally stole glances at the oddly attractive little blond a few feet away from him. Axel wasn't gay or anything, but this particular guy had caught his eye. And not just because he had a sense he knew him from somewhere.

Once, Roxas caught Axel looking at him, and warily frowned at the red headed assassin. Axel just grinned and nodded his head respectfully. The blond didn't seem to think much more of it and went back to talking to the others at his table.

After finishing his meal, Axel reluctantly went up to the bar with his folder, producing the hand written receipt and getting the bill. He sat down at the bar and paid what he owed before ordering another drink for himself.

"Uh, would I be able to have another round of what we all had last time?" A voice enquired, grabbing the attention of the barmaid.

"Sure honey, I'll bring it right over. Table 36, right?"

"Yep." Came the response. Axel glanced up, watching with an amused expression the small blond fidget with his wallet. He grinned. "What?" Roxas asked, frowning at Axel.

"Nothing." Axel said, looking back at the bar and sipping at his beer. This answer didn't seem to satisfy Roxas, who stood staring at Axel with his head cocked to one side.

"What?" Axel asked, turning back to face the small blond.

"I'm sure I know you from somewhere." He said, his brow furrowing further.

"Maybe you do." Axel replied ominously. He didn't mention that he felt the same way too.

"Are you sure we haven't met before?" Roxas asked.

"I don't know kid." Axel said, putting his drink down at the bar and grinning at Roxas. He instantly regretted using the word kid. The guy wasn't that much younger than he was, if Axel had to estimate he would have said he was about twenty-one.

"Kid?" The other questioned, his frown disappearing only to be replaced by a pointed look.

"I could call you by your name if you like." Axel said.

"So I have met you?"

"No, I don't know your name. That was a cleverly disguised prompt for you to tell me." He teased.

"I'm Roxas. And you?" The blond replied still looking at Axel like he was some kind of idiot.

"Axel. Nice to meet 'cha." He extended his hand.

"Axel…" The blond breathed, his earlier frown returning to his features. At this rate Axel was beginning to wonder if the man was perpetually confused. "So, Axel," He said, sliding onto one of the bar stools next to the assassin. "What brings you to this pub today?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, unless Axel isn't actually your name."

"Ah, that would be telling." Axel said, tapping his nose. Roxas cleared his throat, as though telling him to expand on this explanation. "I just needed a place to lunch, and I know that The Lanes Between do a pretty damn good Hunter's Chicken." He shrugged, downing the remains of his drink and grinning at Roxas. "What brings you here?" He asked, despite knowing perfectly well the reason.

"I've been promoted today." He said, grinning for the first time since engaging Axel in conversation.

"Really? Well, I guess congratulations are in order, Roxas."

"Thank you." The blond smiled, glancing back at the table. None of his friends seemed to have noticed his prolonged absence, yet he still said; "Err, I should probably be getting back to my friends."

"Okay then." Axel said, picking up the folder from the bar and putting his glass down. "I should probably get going actually, I've got some friends of my own to visit."

"See you around, Axel." Roxas said, waving as he sat back down with his colleagues.

"Hopefully." He replied, before getting to his feet and walking to the door. He glanced back in Roxas' general direction as he left, and noticed with some satisfaction that the slightly-attractive spikey haired journalist was watching him leave. He sent a wink in his direction before disappearing out the door.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note<strong>_

_/Disclaimer/_

_All the characters are Square Enix's. And sadly nope, I don't own them ;-;_

_Ooh look, Axel met Roxas 8D I wonder where this is going to lead… Ahaha, I quite like this chapter, mainly the ending 'cause it was fun to write. I'm trying to keep them as in character as possible but I apologise if I'm making them a bit ooc at times._

_As always, thanks to the people who've faved, subbed or reviewed. I really appreciate it. Would you be so kind as to drop me a review about your thoughts on the chapter? I don't mind what kind of review it is, long or short, good or bad. I just enjoy the feedback xD_

_Thanks for reading, and see you in the next author's note~_


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